Dispensing cartridge for intermixing separate ingredients



DISPENSING CARTRIDGE FOR INTERMIXING SEPARATE INGREDIENTS Filed April 24, 1968 Oct. 28, 1969 R. J. COOK ETAL 2 Sheets-Sheet l ,/gaamw nnvggvir r 06L 1969 R. J. COOK 'ETAL ,4 1

DI5PEN$IN CARTRIDGE FOR INTEFMIXING SEPARATE INGREDIENTS Filed April 24, 1968 I 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent 3,475,010 DISPENSING CARTRIDGE FOR INTERMIXIN G SEPARATE INGREDIENTS Ralph J. Cook, Torrance, and Clifford C. Moline, Malibu,

Calif., assignors to Products Research & Chemical Corporation, Burbank, Califl, a corporation of California Filed Apr. 24, 1968, Ser. No. 723,738 Int. Cl. B011 13/00, /02

US. Cl. 25947 14 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A dispensing cartridge has a normally closed forward dispensing port and a rearward piston-like end wall that may be advanced to extrude the contents through the port. A foil she'et divides the cartridge into two compartments to store a base material and an actuator respectively. An operating rod extends slidingly through the piston-like end wall and is first used to rupture the foil and then to engage a dasher to pull the foil out of the way. Then the operating rod reciprocates the dasher to mix the base material and actuator. Finally the operating rod is engaged with the piston-like end wall to extrude the mixture.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Cook Patent No. 3,153,531 discloses a cartridge" shell with a dispensing port at its forward end and with a piston-like wall closing its rearward end. A dasher is initially located at an intermediate position in the shell and is initially spanned by a sheet of foil that divides the shell into two compartments to store two separate ingredients, which may be, for example, a sealing compound base material and a suitable activator respectively. The sheet of foil is cupped over the forward side of a dasher and a removable tape initially constricts the shell to clamp the margin of the foil against the periphery of the dasher. A manually operable rod having its inner end releasably connected to the dasher slidably extends through the dispensing port and serves to seal the dispensing port up to the time of use.

At the time of use, the constricting tape is removed, the operating rod is retracted to retract the dasher out of engagement with the sheet of foil, and then the operator squeezes the shell to crumple the foil. The operator then forces the plunger all the way in to cause the dasher to force the crumpled foil out of the way against the piston-like end wall. The dasher is then reciprocated by the operating rod to intermix the two ingredients, after which the rod is disengaged from the dasher and is withdrawn from the dispensing port to clear the dispensing port for extrusion of the material. Finally a dispensing nozzle is connected to the dispensing port and then the cartridge is placed in a dispensing gun that applies air pressure against the piston-like end wall to dispense the mixture from the cartridge.

The described cartridge has special utility for certain industrial uses and especially where a large quantity of the mixed material is dispensed over a working day. There is a definite need, however, for such a dispensing cartridge that is self sufiicient in the sense that it does not require a special dispensing gun and does not require a source of compressed air to carry out the dispensing operation.

A further and more specific need for improvement is to provide such a cartridge that does not require final disengagement of the operating rod from the dasher followed by complete withdrawal of the operating rod to clear the dispensing port for the dispensing operation. In addition, it is highly desirable to provide the dispensing "ice port with a dispensing nozzle that may be adjusted to open and close the port.

The purpose of the present invention is to meet these various needs for improvement in a dispensing cartridge of the character described.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The dispensing cartridge of the present invention is similar in certain respects to the above described device disclosed in the Cook patent. Thus the shell has an initially closed forward dispensing port and a dispensing piston is provided for the initial purpose of closing the rear end of the shell and for the subsequent purpose of extruding the mixed ingredients through the dispensing port. Also a dasher inside the shell releasably supports a foil partition that divides the shell into two compartments for the two ingredients and initially a removable tape constricts the shell to clamp the margin of the foil against the periphery of the dasher.

An outstanding feature of the invention, however, is the concept of slidingly extending the operating rod through the dispensing piston that serves as the rear end wall of the cartridge. In the initial use of the cartridge as a container for the two isolated ingredients, the operating rod is at a retracted position with its inner end spaced from the foil partition and preferably removable means is provided to prevent inadvertent premature advance of the operating rod.

At the time of use of the cartridge for the mixing and dispensing operations, the operating rod has four successive functions. First, the operating rod is advanced to rupture the foil partition. Then the inner end of the operating rod is connected to the dasher for retraction of the dasher to force the ruptured foil out of the way against the retracted dispensing piston. Next the operating rod is reciprocated to actuate the dasher for thorough intermixture of the two ingredients. Finally, the operating rod is retracted to cause the dasher to confine the ruptured foil against the dispensing piston and then the retracted rod is connected to the piston to advance the piston to extrude the mixture.

In the preferred practice of the invention a nozzle is slidingly telescoped into the dispensing port to serve as a valve as well as a nozzle, the nozzle being normally locked in a rearward open position and being slidable to a forward open position The present embodiment of the invention is further characterized by the provision of a resilient sleeve on the operating rod that may be advanced into engagement with a circumferential groove of the rod for the purpose of operatively connecting the rod to the dispensing piston.

The features and advantages of the invention may be understood by reference to the following description and the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings, which are to be regarded as merely illustrative FIG. 1 is a longitudinal view partly in side elevation and partly in section showing the dispensing cartridge serving as a container for the two isolated ingredients;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the dasher without the foil partition;

FIG. 3 is a similar view with the foil partition cupped over the rear face of the dasher;

FIG. 4 is a section of the forward portion of the cartridge showing the nozzle that also functions as a valve for the dispensing port;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged perspective view of a removable locking clip that may be employed to keep the nozzle at its forward closed position up to the time of use of the cartridge;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view showing how the dasher may be retracted to move the ruptured foil partition out of the way against the retracted dispensing piston;

FIG. 7 is a similar view indicating how the dasher may be reciprocated for a mixing operation;

FIG. 8 is a similar view showing the dasher retracted against the dispensing piston and further showing the operating rod connected to the dispensing piston for the dispensing operation; and

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary view similar to FIG. 4 showing a modification of the nozzle of the dispensing cartridge.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The drawing shows the presently preferred embodiment of the invention in the form of a disposable dispensing cartridge, generally designated 10, to contain, for example, a sealant which is compounded at the time of use by mixing a base material with a catalyst or accelerator. Such a sealant is commercially available under the trade name Thiokol. It is to be understood, of course, that the cartridge may be employed to mix other ingredients for other purposes.

The principal parts of the cartridge include: a thin walled cylindrical shell 12 which is preferably made of a suitable plastic material such as polyethlene, the cylindrical shell being open at one end and being formed at the other end with a neck 14 which defines a forward dispensing outlet; a movable end wall or dispensing piston 15 for extruding the contents of the cartridge through the dispensing outlet; a suitable nozzle 16 through which the mixture is to be dispensed; a dasher 18 for mixing the two ingredients just prior to the dispensing operation; a frangible membrane 20 which is cup-shaped to embrace the dasher 18 to serve as a partition for dividing the cartridge into a first forward compartment 22 to contain one of the ingredients, for example a base material, and a rearward compartment 24 to contain a second ingredient, for example a catalyst or accelerator for the base material; and an operating rod 26 which is adapted to serve the functions of rupturing the frangible membrane 20, of reciprocating the dasher 18 for a mixing operation, and of actuating the dispensing piston 15 for the purpose of extruding the mixed composition through the nozzle 16.

The rear open end of the cylindrical shell 12 is equipped with a ring 28 having an axial opening 30 to clear the operating rod 26, the purpose of the ring being to reinforce the rear rim of the shell and to serve as a stop to prevent inadvertent withdrawal of the dispensing piston 15. The operating rod 26 which is formed with a knob 32 is initially in a retracted position as shown in FIG. 1 during the shipping and handling of the cartridge prior to the time of actual use. As shown in FIG. 1, preferably a longitudinally split cardboard tube 34 initially surrounds the operating rod 26, with one end of the split tube abutting the dispensing piston 15 and the other end abutting the knob 32 to prevent premature inadvertent advance of the operating knob. Such a cardboard tube may be easily removed at the time of use.

The dispensing port that is provided with the nozzle 16 may be normally closed in any suitable manner. In this particular embodiment of the invention, the nozzle 16 functions as a valve member which is movable between the closed position shown in FIG. 1 and a retracted position shown in dotted lines in FIG. 4. The nozzle 16 may be adapted for connection to a flexible dispensing hose or tube (not shown) and for this purpose may be formed with a series of rearwardly inclined sharp ribs 35 which serve as barbs for engagement with the inner circumferential wall of the flexible hose or tube.

The nozzle 16 is closed at its inner end by a transverse wall 36 and is further provided with a radial flange 38 at its rear which normally abuts the rear end of the dispensing port, as shown in FIG. 1. The nozzle 16 is further provided with radial ports 40 which are normally closed by the inner circumferential wall 42 of the dispensing port. A substantial portion of the nozzle 16 protrudes forward from the dispensing port and this forward portion is formed with a rearwardly facing circumferential shoulder 44 which serves as a stop in abutment with the rim of the dispensing port at the retracted open position of the nozzle. At the retracted open position of the nozzle, the fluent content of the cartridge may flow freely through the radial ports 40 into and through the nozzle.

As shown in FIG. 1, when the cartridge is handled, stored and shipped prior to use, the nozzle 16 is locked in its forward closed position by means of a locking clip 45, the locking clip being interposed between the shoulder 44 of the nozzle and the forward rim of the dispensing port. As best shown in FIG. 5, the locking clip 45 has a curved body 46 dimensioned to extend more than half way around the nozzle 16. The locking clip is made of sutficiently resilient plastic material to yieldingly grip the nozzle in a removable manner and the clip is formed with a ribbed tab 48 to serve as a convenient handle for removing the clip.

As best shown in FIG. 2, the dasher 18 has a central hub portion 50, a cylindrical peripheral portion 52 and has two openings 54 in two of its quadrants, the remaining half of the dasher being blank. The dasher 18 is adapted for releasable connection with the operating rod 26 and for this purpose the hub portion 50 of the dasher may be provided with an internal screw thread 56 for cooperation with an external screw thread 58 on the leading end of the operating rod.

In the present embodiment of the invention, the de formable or frangible membrane 20, which is a circular sheet of aluminum foil, is cupped over the rear face of the dasher 18. That is to say, the metal foil spans the rear face of the dasher and is formed with a cylindrical peripheral flange or marginal portion 60 that snugly embraces the cylindrical peripheral portion 52 of the dasher. Thus the dasher 18 serves initially as means in engagement with the foil 20 to support the foil and to cooperate with the surrounding shell 12 for gripping the peripheral flange 60 of the foil in a fluid-tight manner.

It is contemplated that suitable means will be provided to immobilize the partition-equipped dasher 18 initially at an intermediate position at which it divides the shell into the previously mentioned forward and rearward compartments 22 and 24 for separately storing the two ingredients. Such an immobilizing means may comprise means embracing the flexible shell 12 and constricting the shell to clamp the peripheral flange 60 of the foil against the peripheral surface of the dasher. Any suitable encircling means may be employed for this purpose. In the present embodiment of the invention, a suitable piece of adhesive tape 62 is wound around the shell 12 with suflicient tightness to firmly clamp the dasher 18 in position with the peripheral flange 60 of the foil 20 gripped in a fluid-tight manner.

With the operating rod 26 normally retracted and secured by the split cardboard tube 34, as shown in FIG. 1, and with the adhesive tape 62 immobilizing the dasher at an intermediate position, the split cardboard tube 34 may be removed at the time of use to permit the operating rod to be advanced for the dual purpose of rupturing the membrane 20 and of making operating engagement with the dasher 18. Preferably penetration of the membrane is facilitated by providing the leading end of the operating rod with a sharp point 64. The pointed end of the operating rod is pushed through the membrane to rupture the membrane and the operating rod is than further advanced and rotated to screw into the hub portion 50 of the dasher 18.

At this point the adhesive tape 62 may be removed to release the dasher and then the operating rod may be retracted to displace the ruptured membrane rearward against the dispensing piston 15 as shown in FIG. 6. This retraction of the dasher is made possible by freedom for the fluent material in the compartment 24 to flow through the ruptured opening of the membrane and through the two openings 54 of the dasher.

When the foil 20 is fully retracted against the dispensing piston 15, the dasher may be moved forward to disengage itself from the foil and then the dasher may be reciprocated by means of the operating rod as indicated in FIG. 7 to mix the two ingredients together. If there' is any tendency for the foil to cling to the dasher, the foil will be ultimately disengaged on one of the rearward movements of the dasher.

Although the operating rod 26 is initially slidingly mounted in the dispensing piston for the purpose of carrying out the mixing operation, the operating rod may subsequently be operatively connected to the dispensing piston for the purpose of moving the dispensing piston forward to extmde the mixed composition through the nozzle 16. For the purpose of ultimately connecting the operating rod 26 to the dispensing piston, the leading end of the operating rod is provided with a radial flange 65 and the operating rod is further formed with a circumferential groove 66 for cooperation with 'a locking sleeve 68 which is initially retracted to the outer end of the operating rod, as shown in FIG. 1. The locking sleeve 68 may be made of a suitable resilient plastic and is formed with an inner radial flange 70' at its leading end for engagement with the circumferential groove 66. As indicated in FIG. 1, the forward end of the locking sleeve 68 is formed with a series of slits or slots which form flexible locking fingers 72.

After the mixing operation has been carried out in the manner indicated in FIG. 7, the operating rod may be retracted to confine the ruptured foil against the dispensing piston 15 and to place the flange 65 of the operating rod in abutment with the forward side of the dispensing piston. At this position of the operating rod relative to the dispensing piston, the circumferential groove 66 is exposed rearwardly of a hub portion 74 of the dispensing piston to permit the locking sleeve 68 to be advanced into engagement with the circumferential groove. With the inner flange 74 of the locking sleeve seated in the groove, as shown in FIG. 9, the operating piston 15 is clamped between the locking sleeve and the forward flange 65 of the operating rod, and the dispensing piston may be advanced manually by means of the operating rod to extrude the mixture from the cartridge.

It is important to note that during the extrusion operation the dasher 18 cooperates with the dispensing piston 15 to confine the ruptured foil effectively and to prevent the ruptured foil from reaching the nozzle 16 to interfere with the dispensing operation.

The manner in which the invention serves its purpose may be readily understood from the foregoing description. During the mixing operation the nozzle 16 is secured in its normal forward closed position by means of the locking clip 45 as shown in FIG. 1. After the mixing operation and after the dispensing piston is anchored to the operating rod 26 by means of the locking sleeve 68, the locking clip 45 may be removed to permit the dispensing nozzle 16 to be manually retracted to its open position so that the contents of the cartridge may be extruded through the nozzle by manual advance of the dispensing piston.

For some uses of the invention it may be desirable to provide means for releasably retaining the dispensing nozzle 16 in its retracted open position. For example, such a provision may be desirable if the mixture that is to be dispensed is of heavy viscosity and tends to shift the nozzle forward during the extruding of the mixture. FIG. 9 shows how a nozzle 16a may be provided with an external screw thread 75 to cooperate with an internal screw thread 76 of the dispensing port. When it is desired to open the nozzle, the nozzle is simply rotated manually for retraction to its open position by screw action, the open position being shown in FIG. 9.

Our description of the presently preferred embodiment of the invention in specific detail will suggest various changes, substitutions and other departures from our disclosure within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. Means for confining two separate ingredients and for intermixing the ingredients when desired and then for dispensing the mixture, comprising:

an elongated shell having a dispensing port at its forward end;

an end wall closing the rear end of the shell and cooperating with the shell to form a container for said ingredients, said container being contractible in its effective volume to extrude its contents through said dispensing port;

a partition spanning the interior of the shell and initially dividing the container into two compartments to store said two ingredients respectively;

said partition being frangible to permit intermixture of the two ingredients;

a dasher initially spanning the interior of the shell on the forward side of the partition in releasable supporting engagement with the partition;

an operating rod slidably extending through said end wall with the forward end of the rod initially spaced from said partition, the forward end of the rod being shaped and dimensioned for releasable engagement with said dasher by manual manipulation of the rod;

whereby said rod may be shifted longitudinally forward, first, to rupture the partition and, second, to engage the dasher, then the rod may be retracted to retract the dasher thereby to shift the ruptured partition out of the way to the rear end of the container, then the dasher may be reciprocated by the rod to intermix the two ingredients, and then the container may be contracted in its effective volume to extrude the intermixture through the dispensing port.

2. A combination as set forth in claim 1 in which said end wall is a dispensing piston movably mounted inside the shell to permit volumetric contraction of the container by forward movement of the piston.

3. A combination as set forth in claim 2 which includes means to move the dispensing piston forward manually to extrude the mixture through the dispensing port.

4. A combination as set forth in claim 2 which includes means to operatively connect said operating rod with the dispensing piston when the rod is in a retracted position, whereby the retracted rod may then be advanced to advance the dispensing piston for extrusion of the mixture through the dispensing port.

5. A combination as set forth in claim 4 in which said means to operatively connect the operating rod with the dispensing piston includes:

a peripheral recess on the operating rod positioned adjacent to and rearwardly of the dispensing piston when the operating rod is in a retracted position; and

means slidably embracing the operating rod, said embracing means being initially retracted rearwardly from the recess and being radially contractible into engagement with the recess to serve as a peripheral projection for abutment with the dispensing piston, whereby with the operating rod retracted said embracing means may be shifted forward on the operating rod into engagement with said recess.

6. A combination as set forth in claim 5 in which said embracing means comprises a sleeve slidably mounted on the operating rod, a portion of said sleeve being biased radially inwardly for engagement with the recess.

7. A combination as set forth in claim 6 in which said sleeve has at least one radially inwardly biased resilient finger for engagement with the peripheral recess.

8. A combination as set forth in claim 7 in which said peripheral recess is a circumferential groove in the operating rod and an end portion of said sleeve is formed with a circumferential series of inwardly biased resilient fingers for engagement with said groove.

9. A combination as set forth in claim 1 in which the rear side of the dasher conforms to the configuration of the forward side of the dispensing piston whereby the dasher may be retracted by the plunger to position the ruptured partition compactly against the forward side of the dispensing piston.

10. A combination as set forth in claim 9 in which said end wall is of forwardly convex configuration and said dasher is of rearwardly concave configuration.

11. A combination as set forth in claim 1 in which said end wall is movably mounted inside the shell to permit volumetric contraction of the container by forward movement of the end wall; and

which includes means to operatively connect the plunger with the end wall when the plunger is in a retracted position, whereby the retracted plunger may then be advanced to advance the end wall for extrusion of the'mixture through the dispensing port with the ruptured partition confined between the dasher and the advancing end wall to keep the ruptured partition from being extruded through said dispensing port.

12. A combination as set forth in claim 11 in which said partition comprises a frangible sheet with the peripheral marginal portion of the sheet initially embracing the periphery of the dasher and the shell.

13. A combination as set forth in claim 12 which includes means initially embracing the shell in the region of the dasher and constricting the shell to clamp said marginal portion of the sheet in a sealing manner between the shell and the dasher.

14. A combination as set forth in claim 13 in which said constricting means comprises an adhesive tape releasab v wound around the shell.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,140,078 7/1964 Krahe 25947 3,144,966 8/1964 Cook 222136 3,153,531 10/1964 Cook 22? 136 3,188,056 6/1965 Trumbull 259-47 X 3,197,067 7/1965 Rataczak 259-47 X ROBERT W. JENKINS, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

